《The Sacrosanct》


 Pilot

    A figure wearing a fur cloak was approaching, walking along the dirt trail through the forest by gleaming moonlight. Tobias was hiding in the nearby foliage, sizing up this new target with sword in hand and gold in mind. The target appeared to be a woman lazily holding a short spear at her side. Her quiet steps were growing louder and louder. A year ago, Tobias would have thought this an easy mark. But now, each step made him more anxious. His most recent would-be victim pulled a dagger out of nowhere and got him good in the arm before getting away, while another target (more like a crazed madman) pelted Tobias with arrows almost immediately after he came into view.


    Tobias felt the scar of his wound pulsing and sighed ¡ª travelers these days were either getting braver, or he was getting unluckier. He weighed his sword, shifting it from his left hand to his right. He had no choice; he needed to try to break his bad luck or he would be left starving for yet another night.


    Tobias swept out of the bushes without a sound and approached the target. A cold breeze blew at his back, rustling the leaves and masking the sound of his steps. All according to plan. He was sure that he had nothing to worry about this time. Tobias approached and held his sword to the woman¡¯s neck from behind.


    ¡°Your gold or your life.¡±


    The figure froze.


    ¡°Ah! I don¡¯t have any gold, sir,¡± the woman squeaked.


    ¡°Hah. Sure. Drop your weapons if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡±


    She dropped her short spear and Tobias kicked it away. Intricate carvings.


    ¡°Now give me what you have or else.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything except food or water!¡±


    He brought his blade to her neck and drew a bit of blood. She yelped and began sniffling.


    Yep, that usually did the trick.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to toy with me, girl,¡± Tobias growled. ¡°Don¡¯t get on my worse side.¡±


    Her body was unnaturally warm, a stark contrast to night air that was growing more and more chilly. Tobias searched the quivering woman with his free hand and found a small leather pouch.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have anything, eh? Then what¡¯s this?¡±


    He dumped the contents of the pouch out on the trail, revealing nothing other than a bounty of berries. He scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to do better than that¡­¡± His stomach growled at that exact moment.


    ¡°Please, if you want my food... you can take it! That¡¯s all I have.¡±


    This whole situation was starting to sicken him. He pushed her forward onto the ground. ¡°Ugh. Idiot. Just drop all your food and water here and leave.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She looked up at him. His eyes traced the drying trail left by her tears back up to her eyes.


    Those eyes.


    Tobias was immediately struck by them. Irides as black as night. There was something about her pupil-less gaze that mystified Tobias. Did he feel fear, or¡­ death? Maybe¡­ but there was something more to it. A cold chill ran through his body. His eye began to twitch. What was with this girl? ¡°...What are you looking at? Drop the food!¡±


    Sitting on the ground, she slowly pulled out some more pouches one by one and placed them at Tobias¡¯s feet, all the while staring at him with those abyssal eyes. Growing uncomfortable, Tobias decided to wrap up this encounter. ¡°All right, now¡­¡±


    Her expression changed from one of fear to one of determination. She sprang up and made for her spear. Tobias reflexively swung at her with his blade, but she was too fast. This could get ugly if he didn¡¯t show her he meant business. He was going to spring at her and maybe chop off one of her limbs, but by the time he turned, she already had her spear and was pointing it at him, holding him off in a defensive stance. Damn. She was less defenseless than he expected, but it wasn¡¯t a lost cause yet.


    ¡°Please! Do you think you can take me with that flimsy thing?¡± He flourished his blade.


    She ignored his measured threat and inched closer. ¡°Am I the first person you¡¯ve robbed?¡± she asked. ¡°Or am I just one of many?¡±


    Bold words, but she sounded terrified. ¡°What do you think?¡± he replied with a grin.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t let you threaten anyone else.¡±


    Tobias growled. Under normal circumstances, he would retreat. But he needed success.


    ¡°Fine!¡± He lunged at her with his blade, aiming for the gut. She narrowly dodged out of the way and replied with a jab. Her spear lodged itself an inch into his side and he cursed in pain. How could this woman be capable of wounding him? All tactics and reason in his mind was supplanted with primal anger. He was determined to see her in ribbons.


    The woman pulled her spear out to prepare for another strike, but the tip stayed in, leaving her with essentially a long stick. This was over. With a roar, he brought his sword down on her glorified pole and cut it in half. She looked at the piece of wood in her hand and froze.


    ¡°Come here¡­ so I can end you,¡± he muttered as he advanced on her, still with part of the spear in him. She shrieked and threw the remainder at his face, but he deflected it with a lazy swing. She held up her palms.


    ¡°Stay back! Please! Or I might hurt you!¡±


    As she stepped backwards, she tripped over a rock and landed on her back. A vision of him plunging his sword down through her stomach flashed in his mind. Yes, perfect!


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± Tobias lunged. He saw her eyes turn completely dark like onyxes and he felt the chill again. He tried to pull back; every muscle, bone in his body, and instinct told him to pull back. But it was too late. It seemed like time slowed down as she sat up and pushed both hands into his chest mid-lunge. A split second after impact, she released an ear-piercing wail. The veins in her arms and on her hands instantly pulsed ebony. Her hands felt like searing brands. A ghastly pain and ungodly fear surged through his body. He felt his muscles growing limp and his breath being taken from him at the same time.


    He was the one on his back this time. His body spasmed uncontrollably. His eyes jerked around randomly, unable to focus on anything. He felt his blood soaking his clothing and warming his ice-cold skin. The pain emanating from his chest was subsiding as his whole body grew numb.


    Well, it could have been worse. For a man who deserved to die, this wasn¡¯t such a bad way to go. He gazed at the stars in the uncaring sky. He would be joining the gods soon, those same gods that he had cursed for most of his life. He smiled.


    The girl was kneeling at his side with bloody hands, staring at his chest. ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry,¡± she sputtered. ¡°I can fix this¡­ I think.¡±


    He lifted his head up, expecting to see his chest but instead saw his own ribs, as pale as the moon looming overhead. Everything turned white.

 Chapter 2

    Hot!


    With every breath, Nessa could see condensation. An unfortunate side effect of her magically draining away someone¡¯s flesh and blood was that the excess energy tended to overwhelm her in the form of heat. She felt like her skin was on hot coals.


    She immediately threw off her fur cloak and decided to lay it over the gaping hole in the man¡¯s chest. Seeing what she had done to her assailant made her feel guilty, and she had hoped that covering it would at least put it out of her mind for a while.


    Beads of sweat dripped off her flushed forehead, a stark comparison to the man¡¯s pale face. She wanted to jump into the nearest lake and cool off.


    It¡¯s okay. I can save this man. I just need to reverse my magic¡­


    Nessa knit her brows. The last time she had ¡°reversed her magic,¡± she accidentally exploded an injured wolf. It was a case of too much energy infused in too little time. However, she figured that since this man had more mass than the wolf, it reduced the risk.... slightly.


    Nessa removed the cloak. Not a pretty sight.


    She steeled herself and gripped the man¡¯s exposed ribs like handles. Channeling the remnants of her power, Nessa felt the heat quickly leave her core and flow into the man. The aura of heat that hung around her like a heavy blanket was lifted, and she finally felt the cold night air on her skin again. Muscle, blood, and skin were being formed from her fingertips, warm and living, regenerating onto the man¡¯s injury. As the wound finished closing up, Nessa withdrew her hands.


    But now, she was freezing.


    She snatched the fur cloak off the ground and put it back on. Although the fresh bloodstains on the cloak would be pesky to remove, hypothermia was decidedly peskier. Her hands and feet were growing cold as ice, and the numb chill was spreading up her arms and legs.


    She looked at the man¡¯s chest to judge the quality of her work. From what she could recall, flesh wasn¡¯t supposed to be translucent. Still, his blood was flowing fine and nothing was leaking. Best of all, there were no flesh explosions this time. She had never been this successful before.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Nessa briefly wondered what she should do with the man. The layer of flesh she had generated for him to cover his chest was as thin as paper. Any type of foreign pressure on the area would certainly lead to a fatal puncture.


    The man once again reminded her of that wolf she had blown to chunks last year. Her mind began to go off on a tangent.


    Like the wolf, this man¡¯s attack was motivated by desperation and hunger.


    In both cases, she had only retaliated in self-defense.


    Killing defenseless creatures without reason horrified her, so she decided that it was her duty to nurse him back to health.


    Her thoughts wandered to how nice it would have been to have the wolf as a pet.


    She didn¡¯t want to make a similar mistake and miss out on a companion.


    Nessa shook her head, attempting to maintain clarity. Why was she thinking about the past right now? There were more urgent matters at hand. She felt all of her functions slowing down. Two thoughts breached the murkiness of her mind: she needed warmth and she needed helter. She dragged the man off the road and into a large clearing.


    Her frozen hands clumsily attempted to spark a fire with flint and steel, but she fumbled with the tools and cut herself. Cursing, she tried again and finally got a flame going. She threw any kindling she found around her into the fire, knelt in front of it, and thrust her icy hands straight into the middle of the crackling flame.


    Before it could burn her, however, she breathed deeply, and the fire visibly shrank. The energy from the fire rippled through her and warmed her. As she breathed in, the inhalation sucked away the fire completely. She was still chilly, so she was forced to strike another fire. She carefully sipped away at the new fire this time, not wanting to drain it away completely again. After a few minutes, she was as warm as a nice summer¡¯s day.


    Nessa got up to drag the man¡¯s limp body next to the fire. As she put the man down, she felt his face and neck. He was cold as death; the heat from the fire would not be enough to keep him warm.


    She unrolled her animal fur bedroll and maneuvered the man into it. To be safe, she tied many lengths of rope around the bedroll, being careful to avoid the chest area, so that the man could only wriggle around like a worm if he regained consciousness during the night.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad at all,¡± she remarked aloud, stepping back.


    The rope was tight, but not tight enough to restrict any essential blood flow. Nessa was pretty confident that the man wouldn¡¯t be going anywhere and wouldn¡¯t pose a threat. This brought a satisfied grin to her lips. She had always been excellent with using rope, after all.


    She gazed upon the highwayman¡¯s face and saw that a bit of color was returning to it. Good. Satisfied with her handiwork, she curled up near the fire and eventually fell asleep.

 Chapter 3

    The first thing Nessa did when she woke up the next morning was check the man¡¯s vital signs. His pulse was weak. He wasn¡¯t responding to verbal or physical stimuli either, which did not bode well. She understood his deteriorating situation and set off for town to obtain medical supplies.


    She was half-excited and half-terrified about the city; it had been six whole years since she had set foot in civilization. Would the priests of Magnus recognize her and apprehend her? They were infamously merciless against those who broke any law, no matter how minor. Hopefully her years of aging would throw them off. Nessa decided that, regardless of her appearance, it was still important to be discreet. That meant refraining from using her magical powers and avoiding sticky situations. If she got robbed again, she would be put in a tough spot.


    By sunset, she reached a popular crossroad and saw a large line of incoming travelers. They wore city clothing. She had outgrown her own city clothing a long time ago and was instead wearing her animal skin clothing, which she had fashioned with the help of a friendly ranger she had encountered in the wilds. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Nessa thought over her options. Should she greet them? Should she just walk past them?


    In the end, Nessa decided to stare straight ahead and walk past the group. Confidence and nonchalance would do the trick. She felt their eyes on her and started to walk a bit faster. Some of the people she passed were pretty strange-looking themselves. She became hyper-aware of her arms and wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do with them. Was there an optimal arm position to reduce suspicion?


    ¡°Hey! Hey you!¡±


    She had a sinking feeling that the voice was addressing her.


    ¡°You in the fur!¡±


    Nessa thought about sprinting away, but then a man in a tall hat ran in front of her with a gleaming knife drawn.


    ¡°Hello, my pretty,¡± he said as he raised his knife awfully close to her eyes. ¡°I have a question for you.¡±


    ¡°Get away or I might hurt you,¡± she stuttered. She saw dried blood on the blade. Would she be forced to use her powers already? So many witnesses¡­


    Nessa jerked her hands up, readying herself to unleash her deadly magics.


    ¡°Huh? Oh! A thousand pardons. I didn¡¯t mean to scare,¡± the man chuckled. He lowered the blade. ¡°I was just wondering¡­ would this knife be good for skinning? I fancy myself an amateur hunter, but I¡¯ve never done any skinning in my life. You look like an experienced woodswoman, so I was hoping you could give me some advice!¡±


    She sighed with relief. No magic necessary. She quickly glanced up at the strange man, and then down at his weapon. It was an ornate, curved dagger with dull edges but an extremely pointy tip.


    Nessa explained, ¡°You see, yours is more of a stabbing knife than a skinning knife. It¡¯ll be a challenge to skin anything well with such a dull edge. It¡¯s more important to have a long, sharp edge for skinning. All you¡¯ll manage to do with that knife is poke a bunch of holes in your animal hides.¡±


    ¡°I see. So use a different blade when skinning. Thanks for the advice, miss.¡±


    He tipped his hat, gave her a toothy grin, and ran back to his party¡¯s wagon. Despite the man¡¯s creepy appearance, he seemed as nice as could be. Nessa breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She was grateful that she had encountered normal people rather than more highwaymen.


    As they disappeared in the distance, she suddenly thought she could hear one of them yell, ¡°We¡¯ve been skinning these humans all wrong?¡± Nessa picked up the pace, not believing what she had heard.


    Luckily by then, they were far away and she had almost reached the small town¡¯s gate. Two guards stood at attention.


    ¡°Halt! Identification please,¡± one of them demanded as she approached.


    Nessa¡¯s heart started thumping. This was her moment of truth. If she played the guard right, then she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with a priest of Magnus. She fished around in her pouch and pulled out a tattered piece of paper. The guard read it and scowled.


    ¡°This is illegible.¡±


    ¡°Can I get a new one then?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ we can send for a priest of Magnus and he can generate you new papers. After he screens you, of course.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    That was definitely not what she wanted.


    ¡°Oh¡­ how long will that take?¡±


    ¡°A few hours at the mo-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too long! I have better things to do, anyway. Good day to you, sirs!¡±


    Nessa spun around and hurriedly walked away.


    So she wouldn¡¯t be able to just stroll into town. The cities were just as secure as she had remembered they were. She sat in the fields, contemplating on how to get in. The sky was already beginning to darken and the stars were coming out. She didn¡¯t mind sleeping on the soft grass, but she needed the medical supplies as soon as possible, preferably by the end of that night.


    She thought about sneaking in, but the guards were vigilant. Could she stealthily get into the cart of some unsuspecting merchant? No. Not only was that too hard to accomplish, but also the roads were completely empty.


    Suddenly, she heard the cries of an animal that sounded like a deer. She immediately lit a torch and moved towards the noise. Deer had always been a particular favorite of hers. Not to mention she was getting hungry.


    She came across a sorry sight. Two wolves were eviscerating a felled deer. Nessa shouted and approached them, waving around her flaming stick.


    ¡°Get out of here! This is MY meal!¡± she roared as loudly as she could. The wolves backed away from the deer and growled at the newcomer. She picked up a rock, threw it, and hit one of the wolves.


    ¡°MY deer! MY deer!¡±


    She looked straight into the eyes of the wolves and saw nothing but hunger. Sensing a moment of weakness, one of them immediately lunged towards her. She swung her torch at the wolf while sidestepping, but missed. However, she spun around, successfully anticipating the second wolf¡¯s flank attack. The second wolf dashed at her, but she screamed and swung, burning the wolf with flame. It whimpered and backed away. They slowly circled Nessa; she struggled to keep an eye on both of them.


    ¡°You want more? Come on!¡±


    This time, they both lunged at once. One managed to attach itself to the fabric over her legs, while the readied for a charge. She felt the first wolf trying to pull her to the ground, so she jabbed the torch right into the wolf¡¯s face. It screeched in pain and relinquished its hold on her. The other wolf snarled viciously at the sound of its comrade¡¯s yelp.


    She advanced on the second wolf, shouting and swinging her torch. The wolves decided that although the few bites of deer they had gotten here were in fact quite good, this crazy human was ruining the overall ambiance. They trotted off into the darkness without looking back. Nessa snorted.


    She went to the dying deer and kneeled down. It was mewling in agony. She estimated that it would die within the hour. Still, it was better just to put it out of its misery now.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay,¡± she said gently.


    She looked around to make sure no one was watching. She rested one palm on the deer¡¯s body and began to drain. The essence of deer had always been a particular favorite of hers. The deer grew cold.


    Once she was full, she pulled her hand away. To her surprise, she tore off a giant chunk of flesh in the process. She panicked and tried to shake the deer meat off her hand, but it was stuck as if a vacuum had formed on her palm. It was shrinking and greying. Her magic was sapping it and she couldn¡¯t maintain control. She broke out in a sweat from the overflowing heat. She put the flesh under her foot and tried to pull it off of her hand, but the chunk held fast.


    The hunk of meat was wasting away quickly. Unfortunately, it was withering away too fast for her body to cool down in time. Nessa¡¯s vision was getting blurry and her muscles grew weak. By the time the flesh had completely been sapped, she felt like she would pass out at any moment. The whole world was spinning. Condensation poured out of her nose and mouth with every breath. She needed help.


    With nowhere else to turn, she staggered back towards the town. There was a chance that they still wouldn¡¯t let her in, but they wouldn¡¯t just let her die.


    Not like she had much of a choice at this point.


    As Nessa neared the guards, she held out her hand and attempted to call for help. However, her legs gave out and she ate dirt. She resorted to whimpering as loud as she could. She was seeing double, triple, quadruple. To her relief, she could hear the guards approaching.


    ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡±


    One of them turned her over and saw her sweat-drenched face. He put his hand on her forehead.


    ¡°Holy¡­ you¡¯re really burning up.¡±


    She tried to respond, but only mumbling came out.


    ¡°We should bring her to the apothecary.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s the same girl from before. She has no identification.¡±


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t leave her to die. Magnus forbids it.¡±


    ¡°He forbids killing. She¡¯s dying all on her own.¡± He pointed at her eyes, which were rolling to the back of her head.


    ¡°True, but we would have to report this death. What if somehow we get accused of killing her?¡± he said, narrowing his eyes. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial hush. ¡°It could very well happen, knowing the priests in this town.¡±


    The other guard nodded his head with a grim expression. ¡°...I suppose this is the right thing to do, anyway,¡± he sighed.


    She felt the guards pick her up but didn¡¯t remember after that.